Slack-take up and dipper-tripping mechanism for excavating apparatus



March 24, 1931. H, E BREY 1,797,224

SLACK TAKE-UP AND DTPPER TRT PPNG MECHANISM FOR EXCAVATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 11, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l saggia-su March 24, lgg. H' E BREY SLACK TAKE-UP AND DIFFER TRIPPING MECHANISM FOR EXGAVATING APARATUS4 Filed Aug. ll, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @Hoz neg Patented Mar..` 24, l 93E STATES UNITE HAROLD E. BREY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR T KOEHRING COMPANY, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION SLACK-TAKE UP AND DIEPER-TRIPPING MECHANISM FOR EXCAVATING APPARATUS Application led August 11, 1926. Serial No. 128,578.

The present invention appertains to improvements in excavating apparatus, and in particular to tripping mechanism by means of which the excavator is discharged at'will.

In such apparatus, as well known at the present time, it is customary to providea trip line which extends from the door latch of the excavating element back to a point convenient to the operator so that when the excavator has been shifted or hoisted with its load to the position for discharge, the operator is able to grasp the line, and, by pulling upon the same, effect release movement of the latch means conventionally employed.

This manual operation requires the operator to continually release his hold upon the con- `trol levers, which are usually to be found upon this type of machinery, and in this respect it is an undesirable operation.

More particularly, however, it is found to be necessary to provide a sufclent amount of slack in the trip line to allow for the varying degrees of movements of the excavator, or the continuous use of such line may and does cause material stretch to such an extent that this line usually becomes excessively slack, hangs suspended from lts suport in a position where it catches upon o ]ects, prematurely tripping the door latch,

or becomes entangled and frequently broken.

I am aware that some efforts have been made to do away with this troublesome excess slack in the trip line or cable but usually this results in a complicated threading thereof or such arrangement as to still require the operator to shift his hold from the controls to operate it.

My invention therefore has for its primary object to provide a line retrieving device by means of which all slack in the tripping line for the excavator is. automatically taken u A further objective of equal importance is the provision for effecting automatically a trip action of the excavator latch from one of the controls for the apparatus.

To the end of accomplishing these objects I combine a line retrieving unit with a coning apparatus, utilizing such element ,to

nection to the hoist lever by means of a move`- ment of which the operator can first effect hoist action -of the excavator and then by another very slight movement mechanically trip the door of the excavator to discharge the same. In this connection I employ the term excavator to refer to the digging instrumentality whether this be a shovel, a bucket, scoop, dipper or the like.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter setpforth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a diagrammatic viewk in elevation of an excavating apparatus and depicting the application of this invention thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the retrieving assembly, parts being broken away and shown in section, together with the controls therefor;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the plane indicated by the line 3 3 of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a top plan View of the retrieving assembly;

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the retrieving assembly;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view of a modified form of the invention; and

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the modified form shown in Figure 6, parts being broken away and shown in section.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

yThe line retrieving assembly or tripping mechanism which forms the subject matter ill! . 2 of the drawings.

of .this invention, which is shown more particularly in Figure 2 of the drawings, is indicated generally by the reference character B, and in its application to the well known type of excavating shovel depicted in Figure 1, ismounted upon the hoisting drum shaft A which in such apparatus is a continually rotating member, so to speak. From the hoisting drum which is mounted upon said hoisting shaft the hoisting cable C extends over a sheave D at the top of the boom E to the dipper bail block F by means of which the dipper G is hoisted in the operation of excavating. It is needless to describe in detail the excavating apparatus referred to, other than to explain that the hoisting operation is under the operators control through the lever` H connected by the rods I and J to the friction band clutch (not shown) The trip line K is connected in the usual manner tothe door latch of the dipper Gr but at its inner end this line is wound upon the retrieving drum 1 forming a part of this invention and most clearly shown in Figure This drum is mounted independently of but eccentrically to and against the outer end of the'hoisting shaft A, the outer extremity of which has fixed thereon a friction disk 2. Friction material or brake lining 3 is attached to the periphery of this disk and is closely surrounded by the inner face of the drum 1 which in the operation of this invention hereinafter explained permits of cooperation of these parts. The retrievin drum itself is bushed or rather journale upon an inwardly extending and hollow boss on the housing 5 formed to surround and*V protect the retrieving drum before mentioned.

This retrieving unit is pivotally or swingingly mounted upon the bracket 6 which is adj ustably secured to the side frame M of thc apparatus by the bolt fastenings 7. Thus in this retrieving assembly there is to be found the friction disk 2 continually rotatable with the shaft A, the eccentric drum l free to rotate in opposite directions on its bearing 4, and the housing 5 which is capable of oscillatory movement to bring the retrieving drum into frictional contact with the disk 2 at its top and bottom respectively, relatively speaking.

The elements 1 and 5 are peculiarly supported at the opposite side of the housing from the pivot member 6. A take-up or ndjusting bolt 8 passes through a spring 9 and the pocket extension 10 on the housing 5 for said spring and also through the apertured lug 11 projecting from the frame piece N, so that by the proper adjustment of the winged nut 12 of the bolt the retrieving unit is caused to take what I call for the purposes of this description a balanced or floating position. That is to say, the weight of the pivoting parts is yieldably carried partly by the bolt and partly by the trip cable orA line K which is wound upon the drum 1. The nicety of adjustment or balance is such that there exists just suiiicient fall of the retrieving unit to bring the inner face of the drum 1 into contact with the disk 2 at a point approximately designated at a: (see Figure 5) to produce a winding action of the drum, thereby taking up all slack in the trip line, which action proceeds to such an extent even of slightlyv lifting the drum and holding it elevated in conjunction with the support of the bolt 8 that the slack is maintained taken up during movements of the dipper, while the tension is yet insufficient to release the dipper latch.

It will be understood, of course, that this balanced or floating conditionma-y be counteracted by a positive swing of the housing 5, as by lifting it upwardly through the instrumentality. for example` of the Arod 13 which coacts with the seat 14 on the housing. When thus elevated, contact with the rotating disk 2 at a point approximately designated fz/ is produced which immediately effects an additional or further winding up of the trip line on the drum with lthe result of release of the latch holding the dipper door. Taking advantage of this` I have connected the said rod 13 to an arm of the bell crank J which establishes connection between the rods I and J to the hoisting drum clutch. In this manner I am able to produce a discharge ofthe dipper from the regular hoisting control without necessitating the removal of the operators hand therefrom. This may be more clearly apparent from the following detailed statement of the operation.

In the operation ofthe invention. it will be understood that in order to throw in the hoisting drum and raise the dipper. the operator moves the hoisting lever to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2. This rocks the bell crank J and pulls downwardly the rod i J. throwing in the hoisting drum clutch if which is not shown. Simultaneously 'the retrieving unit is lowered by the rod'13 and the drum 1 has imparted to it counterclockwise movement bv virtue of the frictional contact with the disk`2 at ythe point w approximately, thus taking` up the, slack which of course follows -the elevation of the excavating element. When the dipper has been raised to the extent desired and over the point for discharge. `the control lever H is moved in the opposite direction to the position shown by the dot and dash line, thus declutching the hoisting drum and thus substantially discontinuing the take-up action of the'trip line.

It will be observed that the rod J is provided with an elongated slot J and in the declutching movement the toggle levers of the clutch snap out of their clutching position drawing up the rod J and positioning the pin of the bell crank J at the lower end iso' of this slot. A `quick clutch release is thus provided.` p

When the excavator is to be discharged the operator shifts the hoist control lever H a further degree of movement or to the full line position shown in Figure 2which effectsa lifting action on 'the rod 13 without disturbing the position of the rod J. This lifting action by the rod 13 raises the retrieving unit until contactof the druln 1 'is firmly made at the point fy, quickly actuating the trip line K and releasing the excavator-door latch. The lever H is now restored tothe normal position shown by 'the dot and dashy line which again lowers the retrievingl device to permit the yieldable support to take care of the takelup action upon the trip line K and when this take-up of the line has proceeded until supporting tension is again pro duced the retrieving unit is restored to its' floating condition, the door of the excavator having in the meantime been closed and latched. j 4

It is to be understood that the degree of movement of the control leverI-I which produces the tripping action of the line K is Very slight and the operator soon acquires considerable skill in this facility of control without removing his hand from the control lever, or the exercise of any very great amount of effort to produce the discharging operation of the excavator device.

It should be noted that by the simple adjustment of the bracket 6 the degree of eccentricity of the retrieving unit with reference to the rotating disk 2 may be modified. Such adjustment will effect a variation inthe gradation of contact which will in turn increase or decrease the rotative force proportionately to the approach or retreat of the pivot bracket 6 to the hoisting drum shaft A.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have disclosed a slight modification of the retrieving device which,v however, functions identically with the form shown in the remaining figures. The modification primarily resides in the change of form of the member 5a which is no longer in the' shape of a housing enclosing the retrieving drum. Instead this member is provided with a lateral bearing lextension 4b which is journaled in a bracket 4c.' secured to the frame structure of the apparatus. Projecting from this bearing enlargement is a boss 4a; which receives the hub of the drum 1a arranged concentric to the hoisting drum shaft A. It

will be obsenved that the enlar ement '41), however, is arranged eccentrical to the hoist shaft A. The disk or mem r 5a is formed witha laterally projecting arm 5 5 to the end of which is connected the operating rod .13 hereinbefore described with refer- 'ence to the preferred construction of this mechanism. At the opposite side of the member 5a to the arm '5b a projection 10a is.

formed with which the spring 9a coactsand lstruction and arrangement of the device may bemade within the purview of this invention and I dovnot wish, therefore, to be restricted to the details which have been hereinbefore described. `While I have described the tripping mechanism constituting the subject matter of this invention in connection with its adaptation to an excavating device. I desire it to be understood that I do not wish to he limited to this particular application rof the mechanism since it is capable ofv being employed in connection 'with many devices for line retrieving or tripping operations.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In excavating apparatus, the combinat1on of an excavator. latch tripping mechanism for said excavator, nd a control level lmovable to effect contro of the excavator,

said lever being further bodily movable in the same plane to effect control of the latch tripping mechanism.

2. In excavating apparatus, the combination with an excavator, a trip line therefor and a continually operating element. of a control member preliminarily movable to establish operative connection between the excavator and the operating element and subsequently movable to establish operative connection between the trip ,line and the operating element for actuation of'said trp line.

3. In excavating apparatus of the class described, the combination with an operating shaft and a dipper dumping trip line, Y

of means operable from said shaft for normal-ly maintainingthe trip line under tension'to take up slack and for positively causing dipper dumping action from said shaft. 4. In excavating apparatus of the class described, the combination with a hoisting sha-ft, a hoist `control lever and a dippcr trip line, of line retrieving means coacting with said shaft, said level' being movable in one direction to effect dipper hoisting action and in the opposite direction to effect trip action of the line.

5', In excavating apparatus of the class described, the combination with a shaft, a control lever therefor, and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit to which the line is connected. mounted in coacting relation to said action and in the reverse direction to produce trip action of the line.

7. In excavating apparatus of the class described, the combination with a hoisting shaft,. a clutch control lever therefor and a load discharging trip line, of tripping mechanism associated with said shaft for operation thereby under the control of the clutch lever, said lever being movable in one direction to produceclutch action and reversely movable to produce tripping action of the trip line.

8. In excavating apparatus, the combination with a rotating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving member operable by said rotating,T member to take up slack in said line,

the retrieving member being shiftabl auto-` matically incident to the tension produced on the linel when the slack has been taken up to reduce the take-up tension thereon'.

9. In line retrieving mechanism, the combination with a rotating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit arranged to automatically shift into coacting relation with the rotating member to take up slack in the trip line incident to reduction of tension in said line.

10. In line retrieving mechanism, the combination with a rotating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit arranged to variably cooperate with said rotating member to automatically take up slack in the said line.

11. In line retrieving mechanism, the combination with an operating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit cooperative with said operating member to take up slack in the line and including means for sustainin the unit in a substantially floating position with reference to the operating meniber when slacklias been eliminated.

12. In line retrieving mechanism, the combinati'on with a continually operating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit to which said line is connected mounted for frictional contact with said operating member in varying degree to take up slack in the trip line and to actuate the line for tripping action, and means for controlling the degree of contact.

13. In line retrieving mechanism, the combination with a continually operating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit associated with said operating member and for shifting adapted to have varying degrees of contact therewith to take up slack in the line and afford tripping action, and means for actuating said unit to control the degree of contact and the extent of take-up action as well as the tri ping action.

14. n lineY retrieving mechanism, the combination with a continually operating member and a trip line, of a line retrieving unit shiftably mounted in relation to the operating member, means for sustaining said unit normally in such coacting relation to the operating member as to take up slack in the line and maintain it taken up, and separate means the unit into firm contact with said operating member to thereby effect trip action of said trip line.

15. In excavating apparatus of the class described, the combination with a. hoisting shaft, a dipper operable therefrom, and a trip line for said dipper, of a retrieving device'to which said trip line is connected, said device including a friction element secured to 4said hoisting shaft, a retrieving drumon which said trip line is Wound eccentrically mounted withl reference to said friction element, and control means for shifting said drum into frictional contact with said friction member to thereby produce actuation of the trip line.

16. In excavatin apparatus of the class described, the'com ination with a hoisting shaft, a dipper. operable therefrom, and a trip line for said dipper, of a retrieving device to which said trip line is connected, said device including a friction element secured to said hoisting shaft, a retrieving drum on which said tri line is wound eccentrically mounted with re erence to said friction element, and a control member having operative connections with the hoisting shaft to effect actua- "tion of the dipper and other connections with the retrieving device for actuation of said device with relation to the friction member.

17. In excavatin apparatus of the class described, the com ination with a hoisting shaft, a dipper operable therefrom, and a trip line for said dipper, of a retrieving device to which said trip line is connected, said device including a friction element secured`to said hoisting shaft, a retrieving drum on which said tri line is wound eccentrically mounted with re erence to said friction element, means yieldably sustaining said drum in relation to the friction element to normally produce` slack take-up action of the trip line, and a hoist control lever for said dip er having operative connection with the rum to effect trip action of the trip line.

18. In excavating mechanism of the class described, the combination of -a line retrieving member, trip line actuating'means cooperative with the retrieving member, means for maintaining the trip line actuating means in normal coo eration with the retrievin member for taking up slack in a trip line, an

`out of the rope but not sufficiently to Aposithe retrieving member for producing line tripping movement of the retrieving means, and supporting parts for the retrieving member and actuating means-causing the retrieving member to act upon the trip line actuating means whereby operation of said manual means isfacilitated by the actuating means. y

19. In an excavating mechanism lof the class described, the combination of .a trip line retrieving member, means for actuating the said retrieving member to normally cause slack take-.up action of a trip line and operable to produce tripping action of said line, and manual means for initiating the tripping action, the said parts being so arranged that when the tripping action is initiated by the manual means the trip line is operable to facilitate tripping action upon itself.

20. In excavating mechanism of the class described,.a retrieving drum, a trip line connected to said drum, a constantly moving member for actuating said line to eifect a 'slack take up action on theline, and means for initiating contact between the drum and the moving member to thereby render the trip line effective to automaticallyV produce tripping action of the line.

21.4 In an' excavator having a dipper'provided with a discharge door,va locking bolt for securing the door closed and a trip cable connected with the locking bolt for the sole purpose of actuating the locking bolt, whereby a pull on the cablev greater than a certain amount permits the opening of the dipper door, the combination of; a continually rotating element; a drum mounted for rotation, and about which the'trp cable is adapted to. be wound; means providing a slip drive connection between the drum and the rotating element, whereby said drum tends to rotate to wind the trip cable thereon, to maintain the same under a tension insufficient to actuate the locking bolt; and means for providing a greater frictional connection between the drum andthe rotating element, whereby teny -sion is applied tothe cable suiicient to actuate the locking bolt.

' "22. Ina dipper trip for excavators, the

' combination of; a latch; a'trip-rope; a drum,

on which the rope is wound; a` constantly rotating shaft; vmeans for imparting the rotively actuate'the rope to trip the dipper; and other means for imparting the rotation of the shaft to the drum, to positively actuate the rope to trip the dipper.

23. In a semi-automatic trip for power y shovels, a trip cable, a winding drum for said cable, means for rotating said drumto cause the trip cable to function for tripping pur'- poses, take-up means acting continually on the drum for causing the drum to move sufficiently to take-up slack in the cable Without however applying sufficient tension thereto to cause it to function foi-tripping purposes, a single power member for rotating both of said means, and a manually actuated structure for causing the rst mentioned means to function.

24. In an excavator having a dipper provided with a discharge door,a looking bolt for securing the door closed and a trip cable connected with the looking bolt, whereby a pull on the cable greater than a certain amount permits the opening of the dipper door,the combination of: a continually rotat- ;n'ection between the drum and the rotating element, whereby said drum tends to rotate to wind the trip cable thereon, to maintain the same under a. tension insuiicient to actuate the locking bolt; means for roviding a greater frictional connection etween the drum and the rotating element, whereby tension is applied to the cable suiicient to actuate the locking bolt; and single means v for normallyT actuating the means which provide the slip drive connection and at thesame time opposing the actuation of the means which would provide the greater frictional connection.

25. In a semi-automatic trip 4for power shovels; a trip cable; a drum on which part of the cable is adapted to be wound; a constantly rotating power member; means whereby the power member biases the drum to take up the slack in the cable Ibut not with suiicient force to cause it to actuate the trip cable; and manually actuated means for causing such frictional connection between the power member and the drum that the drum will be rotated with suilicient force to actuate the trip cable; the sole purpose of the cable being to perform its tripping function.

26. In a line retrieving device for dipper door trip cables for shovel cranes, in combination, a dipper having a latch adapted to be tripped to o en its door, a tripping cable connected wit the latch, a constantly driven member, and an operating device for the cable associated with said constantly driven member, together with means for causing a normal automatic cooperation between said device and the constantly driven member so that the device takes up slack in the cable under normal conditions of operation of the dipper, and a manual means for converting said automatic action of said device into a manually-controlled action such as to cause dipper Y trip movement of the cable for tripping the latch and opening the door of the dipper. v

27. In a dipper-door trip device for shovel cranes, in combination with the dipper and latch means controlling its door, a normally driven member, a cable connected with the latch of the dipper door, an operating device for said cable comprising a friction part normally automatically coacting with the constantly driven member to create a slack take-up action on the cable aforesaid, and manual means for converting said automatic action into a manually controlled operation of said device by the constantly driven member to cause quick tripping action of the cable for tripping the door to open same.

28. In a dipper'tipping device for shovel cranes', in combination, a constantly rotating member, a dipper trip device including a cable for causing dipper tripping action for discharging the contents of a dipper shovel,

means establishing normal automatic cooperation between said device and the constant-V ly rotating member such that the slack in the clipper trip cable is normally taken up during actuations of the dipper shovel, and manual means for converting the automatic takeup action of the operating device in conj unctionwith the normally rotating member, into a quick pulling action such as to cause tripping action of the cable to dump the dipper shovel.

29. In a flipper trip for excavators, the combination of: a latch, a trip rope, a drum on which the rope is Wound, aconstantly rotating shaft, means for imparting the rotation of this shaft to the drum, to keep slack out of the rope but not suficiently to positively actuate the rope to trip the dipper, means for adjusting the said rotation imparting means for said drum to `vary the degree of rotationimparted to the drum for slack take-up purposes, and other means for imparting rotation of the shaft to the drum to positively actuate the rope to trip the dipper.

30. In excavating machines of the class de-A scribed, a retrieving drum, a trip` line connected to said drum, a constantly moving member for actuating said drum to effect a y slack take-up action on the line, means for adjusting the degree of actuation of the drum by the constantly moving member to vary the take-up action on the line, and means for initiating contact between the drum and the movin ,member to thereby render the 'trip hne e ective to produce tripping action on the line.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

- HAROLD E. BREY.

onn'nnion'rn on oonnnonon.

noon no. 1,797,224. ommen infor 2t, i931, n

HARLD E. BREY,

itis hereby cortiiod that error npponrs in the printed specification of the above mnnberod patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, strike ont iines 10i to v110, comprising oiaim 2,- anti insort instand the ioliowing ns claim 2:

2. in excavating apparatus, `the combination with an excavator, a trip line therefor and a continuaiiy operating element, of a controi member nroiiminariiy mot/obi@ to establish operative connection between the on oavstor and the operating oiernont, and subsequently rsvorsoly inova'bio to estnbiish operativo connection between the trip line and tiro operating oiornont tor actnntionoi said trip iine.;

and tiiat the said Letters Patent should bo renti with this correction therein that tino onine may conform to tito record oi tho osso in the Patent Uiiioo.

Signed and seaied this 2nd day oi inne, A. D. 193i.

l M. si. Moors,y (Soni) .noting Commissioner of Patents, 

